Eliminate Mental Clutter Through Meditation

[nandm]

A lot of stress can be traced to the negative "chatter" that goes on in our minds ---- muddled thoughts about what we said or did or should have said or done, or what we think we might say or do ---- which only serves to distract us from fully enjoying the present. Meditation provides a welcome break from internal as well as external noise. Try this exercise, one of many ways to meditate:

1. Sit quietly in a chair or on the floor and gently close your eyes. Bring mindful awareness to your breath as it flow in and out of your body. Is it shallow or deep? Is your inhale longer, shorter, or the same as you exhale? just notice these things without changing them.

2. Pay attention to the sensations in your body as you breathe ---- the feel of your breath in your nostrils, your lungs, and your belly.

3. Allow yourself to experience whatever feelings come up. If stray thoughts about the past or future enter your mind, exhale them with your next breath and continue to focus on your breathing and this moment.

4. Do this for at least 5 minutes and try to work up to 15 to 20 minutes of meditation in one sitting.

From: 7 Simple Steps to Unclutter Your Life
By: Donna Smallin

[WLDKATZ]

ok Nan, you have helpped me a lot let me see if this works..........I may end up doing what sis Gypsy does and try the yoga thing!

[WLDKATZ]

Originally Posted by WLDKATZ

ok Nan, you have helpped me a lot let me see if this works..........I may end up doing what sis Gypsy does and try the yoga thing!

ok for future refferance yoga is out my leg cant get that high

[nandm]

Originally Posted by WLDKATZ

ok for future refferance yoga is out my leg cant get that high

:rof me tooo:rof

[WLDKATZ]

LOL
that hurt I went to my first one today he grabbed me and started doing twists and turns until I was giggling then he wants to put my leg behind my head I was like right and almost wet myself trying to get untangled........not ready for yoga yet

[WLDKATZ]

naw it is one stop shopping I guess, I was like dude I have a rod in my hip he said (I sware sounding like Robert Duvall) "we practice this art to become one and strengthen our mind and bodies, maybe you should try swimming" all he left out was orkas dont belong in my class......lol was funny my friend Derrick was with me ( 500 if he is a pound) he was like I can get my leg behind my head but I have to use some ones as* for my foot to guide it there........We are going to see if the college has some we are both students and he and I like to work out together ( ok he makes me feel Patite<sp>).....we shall see


Hugs and Prayers,
Pamm

[nandm]

I found this article useful, I hope you do to............Judith

----------------------------------------------------
*** How to **Really Want** to Meditate in 3 Easy Steps - By Dr. Rebbie Straubing ***
----------------------------------------------------

Many books will teach you how to meditate.

I'd like to teach you how to **really want** to meditate.

You may already want to meditate...

...but not really.

When you **really want* to meditate, some amazing things happen. I'll tell you about that in a minute. First, I'd like to ask you 3 questions:

(1) Have you ever started a meditation practice only to gradually drop off?

(2) Have you read books on meditation, tried what they taught you, and then left it for months at a time?

(3) Do you follow a path that recommends meditation, but you just can't seem to get yourself to do it consistently?

If you answered "yes" to any one of these questions, please read on.

Amazing Things Happen

When you **really want** to meditate, your meditation becomes deep and consistent. All the well-known benefits (and some not so well-known benefits) of meditation become yours on a daily basis.

* Your meditation practice becomes your main healing modality when you're sick.
* Your meditation practice becomes your link to financial abundance.
* Emotional stability, inner peace, and creativity dominate your personality.
* Your innate sense of joy and freedom become your path.
* You express your talents in ever expanding ways.

Law of Attraction and the Desire to Meditate

Law of Attraction is always bringing things of a like vibration together. Thoughts attract thoughts. The first simple and easy step that leads you to **really want** to meditate is to engage Law of Attraction. We'll start with your current desire to meditate and transform it into something that can move mountains.

Step 1:
Asking yourself why you want to meditate. Make a list of the reasons. Here are some examples.

To access:

1. joy
2. wisdom
3. inner peace
4. unconditional love
5. compassion
6. kindness
7. clarity
8. balance
9. generosity
10. integrity
11. empowerment
12. to be more truly yourself

To promote inner healing:

1. physically
2. emotionally
3. regarding addictions
4. regarding relationships
5. regarding past traumas
6. regarding body image

To promote harmonious relationships with:

1. partner or spouse
2. children
3. parents
4. siblings
5. co-workers
6. employers
7. employees
8. health care providers
9. landlords
10. tenants
11. clients
12. customers

To open to material well-being:

1. success in career or profession
2. financial prosperity
3. acknowledgement of your art
4. appreciation of your work
5. ease of material wealth
6. alignment with universal abundance

Write down the ones that mean the most to you on post-its and place them in your home, office, car, and anywhere else you go on a regular basis.

Write them like this: "Meditation brings me ____." It may seem silly at first, but just do it. "Meditation brings me joy." "Meditation brings me clients." "Meditation brings me excellent health." "Meditation brings me loving relationships." Contemplate and affirm your phrases throughout the day.

Through these little post-it contemplations, you become attracted to meditation, and it becomes attracted to you.

Step 2: Forgive Yourself
Most systems of meditation ask you to take a big leap from your everyday mind into meditation. They ask you to sit down and begin. Just like that.

That's great if you can do it. But if you can't, it's not your fault. There's a very good reason.

It's because you have no ramp.

Trying to rise from your everyday mind to the purer tone of meditation without a ramp is like trying to get your car from street level to the first story of a parking garage without a ramp. It's not easy.

So, if you've tried and failed, forgive yourself and acknowledge that the problem was not you. The problem was that you didn't have a ramp.

Step 3: Get a Ramp
A ramp can be any form of preparation for meditation. It provides the key to **really wanting** to meditate by making it attainable. The most effective ramp I know is inner alignment. Since the process is interesting and immediately rewarding, it is something you want to come back to day after day. Eventually you realize that you have a regular meditation practice with all the profound benefits.

Meditation can be the most difficult thing in the world OR it can be easy. Inner alignment makes it easy. And when it's easy, you may find that you **really want** to meditate..

Check out the Experts page for Rebbie Straubing, the Official SelfGrowth.com Guide to Spiritual Healing: Rebbie Straubing | SelfGrowth.com

*****
For a complete system of inner alignment (a good ramp) that leads you into deep meditation in record time, comfortably and easily, read Dr. Rebbie Straubing's book, "Rooted in the Infinite: The Yoga of Alignment."

[indigo]

Thank you Judith I meditate every day and any additonal information is always good for me.

[citychick]

I found myself nodding 'yes' to the three questions....thank you very much for this post nandm.

[gypsytears]

Thank you nandm! I recently started meditating daily in addition to my yoga practice for most all of the reasons listed under step 1. Very timely as I just went to a meditation class at my yoga place last night. I too, always appreciate additional information .

[nandm]

"Despite the seeming simplicity, it's not easy to "stop and smell the roses." The fact is that we've trained ourselves to be constantly on the go, to always be doing something and thinking ahead. But if you never live in and fully enjoy the present, what kind of life are you living? How much are you missing out on?"
----7 Simple Steps to Unclutter Your Life
Donna Smallin

I find this is quite true in my life. I feel guilty when I am not on the go or planning to be on the go. To just sit, recognize and enjoy the moment can be one of the most difficult things to do for me. In fact that is one of the reasons I have been considering meditation, to bring the present more into focus for me. I have thought of all the moments I will never relive that were important but I was too busy to recognize it at the time. Baking Christmas cookies with my youngest daughter when she was 5; right before she went to live with her father nearly 3000 miles away. I have only seen her once since then and she turns 13 in March. There are so many moments I truly wish I had taken the time to slow down and really appreciate and enjoy. It is past time for me to start living in the moment.
---Judith

[nandm]

"Slow down. Try this simple exercise: Stand up and deliberately move across the room in slow motion. Notice how it increases your awareness and expands time. That's what slowing down in life can do for you."

----7 Simple Steps to Unclutter Your Life
Donna Smallin

[Fluttering]

Thank you nandm......

[stone]

"When you are practicing Zazen meditation do not try to stop your thinking. Let it stop by itself. If something comes into your mind, let it come in and go out, it will not stay long. When you try to stop your thinking, it means you are bothered by it. Do not be bothered by anything. It appears that the something comes from outside your mind, but actually it is only the waves of your mind and if you are not bothered by waves, gradually they will become calmer and calmer...Many sensations come, many thoughts or images arise but they are just waves from your own mind, Nothing comes from outside your own mind...If you leave your mind as it is, it will become calm. This mind is called big mind."
~Suzuki Roshi in Zen Mind, Beginner's Mind

[nandm]

Thank you Stone.

[nandm]

Watch your every move. Over the next week, before you do anything, ask yourself why you are doing it. Is it important? Is it important enough to do right now? A ringing telephone is a perfect example. Most people automatically answer the phone without deciding to answer it. It's there for our convenience, but how easy it is to become enslaved by it! How much of what you do is action and how much is reaction? By paying closer attention to what you are doing,you can make more conscious choices about how you spend your time.

[gypsytears]

Regarding the telephone example... I check the CID before answering. Maybe I should just start answering without looking lol.

I know what you're saying though nandm .

Since I've been actively meditating and reading about (and trying to practice ) mindfulness I do notice my actions and reactions are much more deliberate and not as quick to be emotional ones.

[nandm]

Originally Posted by gypsy tears

Regarding the telephone example... I check the CID before answering. Maybe I should just start answering without looking lol.

I know what you're saying though nandm .
.

LOL I actually took it to mean just the opposite. That I do not have to feel like I have to pick up the phone just because it rings, I can choose not to answer it. But that comes from the perspective of someone who hates to talk on the phone...

[Fluttering]

When I look at the CID...I often use the tool in the 24 hour plan..."pause aned ask for the right thought"..and I ask my Hp to speak through me and I remind myself that love and tolerance is our code.

And there are times I admit I cannot answer or reposnd to a couple specific individuals as they are toxic and I know my HP does not want toxicity in my life today. Those individuals get a prayer of blessing when I see them on the CID.

[gypsytears]

Yes I understood the part about not being compelled to answer. That's why I check the caller ID... so I can make an informed decision along the lines of Flutterings answer.

I was just saying that perhaps I should break my habit by just picking up the phone lol? Not what your post suggested I know.

[stone]

"So don't be in a hurry and try to push or rush your practice.
Do your meditation gently and gradually step by step.
In regard to peacefulness, if you become peaceful, then accept it;
if you don't become peaceful, then accept that also.
That's the nature of the mind.
We must find our our own practice and persistently keep at it."
~Ajahn Chah, 'Bodhinyana'

*Although the quotes I have posted are from the Buddhist tradition I think they apply to meditation in general, I am not suggesting anyone has to get into Buddhism in order to meditate. *